Global Solar Power Solutions Company D.light Raises Massive USD 41 Mn For African Expansion
Solar-powered solutions provider D.light has just completed an investment round of USD 41 Mn from a consortium spearheaded by Inspired Evolution – an Africa-focused investment advisory firm specializing in the energy sector – alongside three other partners: Dutch Development Bank FMO, Swedfund, and Norfund.
The new investment round will be used in the expansion of the company’s solar and Pay-Go consumer finance business in Africa. The raise is also combined with solid debt financing, and receivables funding solutions will latch the company on to a steeper growth trajectory for further operations.
It has been quite a successful year for D.light, as it also clinched a USD 50 Mn deal in April, with the aim of strengthening the company’s access to energy in Africa by means of solar kits. The operations launched in Ethiopia, after which the solar solutions were expanded to Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda.
In a statement, the co-founder and CEO of D.light, Ned Tozun, expressed the company’s thrill to have Inspired Evolution as it newest backing, as the organization has an energy expertise and formidable network that will add substantial value to the work of D.light and allow the company expand its product line in fresh markets and reach more consumers.
The narrative from Inspired Evolution, by Managing Partner Wayne Keast, revealed the platform’s excitement to partner with the solar power-based company, the market leader in portable solar products and off-grid solar home system. The organization expressed delight to partner D.light to make possible the expansion of their Pay-Go solar business throughout Africa, which is an effort to address the need of over 600 million people cut off from constant electricity access.
This latest round brings the total equity and debt amount of the company to more than USD 100 Mn, which it has raised in the past two years. The entire funding round also enabled a number of the company’s foremost investors to make their various exits. D.light has tasked itself with impacting no less than 100 million people by 2020, and the latest equity development will help the company undoubtedly facilitate the process and achieve the seemingly audacious goal ahead of schedule.
The solar power solutions provider boasts of a commanding market share in Africa and Asia’s emerging markets, and the company’s revenue and profitability continually accelerate at a laudable rate.
D.light’s solar solutions have bagged a multiplicity of international awards on the backs of their innovation and design, and they are being sold through an excess of 30,000 outlets around the world – making the company’s distribution network the largest for these product types.
Since its inception in 2007 by founding partners Tozun and Goldman, D.light has been able to provide solar energy to more than 88 million people, spanning across 62 countries. The company’s products include portable solar lanterns and solar home systems among others, which are designed to power a multiplicity of light, gadgets and low voltage demanding appliances such as LED televisions.
